Reviews
“Temperate Grasslands” at Big Medium
“Experiencing the exhibit reminds one of nature’s ability to refresh the mind and soothe. The act of observing living beings, views of the sky, grassy hills, and leaves on trees has a healing quality. What separates the show from actually walking in the park is the ability to witness nature’s revitalizing beauty through the eyes of artists with inventive perspectives.”
“We’re in that liminal space of summer, where life is lush and blooming, right before it succumbs to death by heat. Big Medium’s curator Coka Treviño has collected an exhibit full of garden scenes representing that magical explosion of garden growth. In her own words, it’s a way “to forget how heavy it feels to be a human.” There’s constant discovery in the wide variety of works, from dozens of artists like the established Dawn Okoro and up-and-comers MuthaGoose. Join the opening reception this Friday to view interpretations of glorious greenery.” – Cat McCarrey, Austin Chronicle
“The Last Sky: Thermals and Thresholds” for the Texas Biennial. At Sawyer Yards, Houston, TX.
“This show, by turns tender and tendentious, offers the reclamation and re-presentation of materials and spaces as an address to destruction, work that investigates the “architecture” of the disasters of nationalism, of overproduction, and the cataclysms lost in deep time. Thermals and Thresholds might look to the possibility of transformations, but apocalyptic overtones haunt works that engage with material detritus and bodily displacements resulting from social, economic, and cultural disequilibrium. Indeed, three large-scale installations frame the show in a dark and reflexive way, interrogating our bodily and ethical positionality as residents of politically defined spaces and consumers of culture.”
Cont.
“Rather than compensate for destruction, the work in this show helps us to think through the impossible towards the possibility of transformations.”
— Ronnie Yates, January 2025, Glasstire
MXTX — A Cross-Border Exchange
Mentions
Glasstire Eight Takeaways from the Zona Maco Art Fair in Mexico City
PR News Wire ArtPrize unveils 2023 winning artists, awarding $400-000 in prizes and showcasing a spectrum of passion and skill.
FOX 17 News ArtPrize announces 2023 winning artists, awards $400K in prizes
Glasstire WILDLIFE: A Conversation With Manik Raj Nakra
SightlinesBorder-busting MXTX project builds musical bridges between U.S. and Mexico
“The heritage project was conceived as a bridge that could creatively knit together the past and present through archival research, present-day resident portraits, and personal stories. The consultant team initially proposed to set up photobooths at community events like Juneteenth and Cinco de Mayo, print large-scale posters of the portraits on-site, and invite the portrait subjects to help install the posters on nearby building walls using wheatpaste. The temporary installations would help to tell important stories about historical ownership and deep cultural roots, while raising awareness of the project.
The COVID-19 pandemic required a nimble change of direction. Instead of community events, the consultant team set up socially distanced photoshoots in front of people’s homes and recorded video and audio from participants and the team installed the wheatpaste posters at four locations around East Austin in early December.
The portraits have also been incorporated into three catalogs produced by the project: College Heights/African American Heritage, South East Austin/Mexican American Heritage, and Patrimonio Mexicano-Americano y del Sureste de Austin. Finally, short videos featuring community members and neighborhood footage were produced which provide an easy introduction to the project and focus areas.”
— Cara Bertron, Fall, 2020, Preservation Austin
TRANSLATING COMMUNITY HISTORY
Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Media Coverage, Scholarship, and Planning by 63rd Annual Preservation Merit Awards
MXTX is a live performance, album and open-source audio sample library crossing physical and social boundaries through collaborative exchange. The project involves more than 40 DJ-producers and composers from both sides of the Rio Grande. A collective of the contributing musicians will travel to Marfa to take the stage for the West Texas Premiere of the project as part of the 35th annual Marfa Lights Festival.
“The Projecto has grown and evolved since its inception 15 years ago, but its original mission to elevate artists remains true. Treviño has worked hard to ensure that her organization directs its curatorial efforts toward empowering artistic communities through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
“… “In a system that doesn’t serve you, interrupt the rules.” Each video features him literally creating a niche for himself. He’s shown that beautiful things can be made out of nothing. Through that, we create our own power. Take back beauty. Take up space. After all, why should we starve?”.
— Cat McCarrey September 5, 2024. Austin Chronicle
“I am at my best when I’m escaping” by Tammie Rubin at Big Medium
— Barbara Purcell, April 17, 2023. Glasstire
— Clarisa González, April 2024, Concept Animals
“In I am at my best when I’m escaping, on view at Big Medium in Austin, artist Tammie Rubin offers a roadmap of personal, lineal, and physical journeys across time and place in America. The solo exhibition is part of Rubin’s receipt of the 2022 Tito’s Prize, awarded annually to an Austin-based artist through the local arts organization Big Medium and its sponsorship partner, Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Rubin, who teaches ceramics and sculpture at St. Edwards University, relocated to Austin in 2015 and has become a fixture in the city’s art community while continuing to gain national attention with her work.”
Chisme
In this conversation, Coka, who continues her own curatorial work via her company The Projecto, reflects on her tenure at Big Medium and the complex web of challenges that led to its sudden closure. From shifts in city grantmaking priorities to the skyrocketing cost of living that made staffing nearly impossible, the interview offers a candid window into just how difficult it has become for arts organizations — even in culturally rich, economically booming cities like Austin — to maintain operations.
Listen to the interview on Apple, Spotify, or your listening platform of choice. Captioned interviews are available on YouTube.
by Pier Carlo Talenti for the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
Other engagements and events
Fusebox Festival 2024 with Avery-Jai Andrews, Joshua Banbury, and Kenyon Adams
Ms. Treviño told Glasstire, “I’ve loved being part of Big Medium and serving my community, but after a few hard years I’m ready to be more intentional and thoughtful about my work, so I’m eager to take some time off to rest and continue with other projects…”
— by Jessica Fuentes, Glasstire
Coka Treviño Opens The Projecto Gallery, a New Space in Austin
— by Jessica Fuentes, Glasstire
